Teachers of Healing Dance®

AlexanderGeorge is the originator of Healing Dance. He is one of WABA's senior instructors; since 1991 he has led over 300 week long 50-hour intensives in Anatomy, Massage, Barefoot Shiatsu, Watsu, Healing Dance and WaterDance. Alexander presently leads trainings in the US, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, France and Italy. His trainings are known for their humor, humanity and technical expertise. healingdance@hotmail.com

InikaSpence has been an aquatic body worker since 1996, working at Harbin Hot Springs as a Watsu, WaterDance and Healing Dance Practitioner. Her classes are informed by her extensive work as a therapist and bring a grounded and practical aspect to her teaching. She has over 2800 hours of training and over 4500 hours teaching aquatic bodywork. Inika has been teaching Watsu and Healing Dance since 1999. She brings grace to the water and conveys that grace to her students through her knowledge of movement and experience in yoga, tai chi, dance, meditation. Aquatic bodywork is her passion. inikasati@gmail.com

Mary Theri Thomas has been everything from a corporate trainer to a martial arts national competition competitor and coach. She currently is the owner and manager of the Aquatic Bodywork Center and has been a practitioner and instructor in the areas of massage, martial arts, yoga, Nia, fitness, core awareness, nutrition, hypnotherapy and holistic health over the past 29 years, 20 of which have been in San Diego. She has trained with Alexander, the creator of Healing Dance, Harold Dull, the originator of Watsu, with Jahara the creator of the Jahara technique, as well as with and with Peggy Schoedinger P.T. the originator of Adaptive Watsu. Mary Theri is one of Healing Dance's Senior Instructors. theri1@aol.com

﻿Ahara Vatter (aka Har Kaur)﻿has been an Aquatic Bodyworker through WABA since 1998. She is a Healing Dance Instructor and a Watsu Instructor. She brings patience to every class and helps each student discover their own natural wisdom in the water, as well as the body mechanics to support their movements. The full spectrum dynamic play of Healing Dance, coupled with it’s organic nature, encourages us to find freedom and understanding in the movement and sanctuary spaces of our body and in those of our floating partners. Healing Dance enlivens any therapy we do in the water. It is a brilliant water modality. Come join us. anandamagda@hotmail.com

For Michael Hallock it was love-at-first-float when he first experienced aquatic bodywork as a receiver over 20 years ago. As he surfaced, his first words were, “I’m going to do this!” First training as a Watsu Therapist in 2002, he went on to work with several world renowned resorts including Chivasom Thailand, Golden Door Australia, and Fivelements Bali. When Michael discovered Healing Dance, he felt immediately at home with the exhilarating fluid movement, and honoring intuitive approach. In 2009, along with Nicola Kapala, he inspired Alexander to develop the Healing Dance Spa Provider Training and went on to become a Healing Dance teacher himself. Widely respected in the field and much loved by his students, Michael’s teaching is characterised by depth, humour, and warmth. Michael was recently featured in National Geographic Indonesia and has become a leading teacher of aquatic bodywork in Asia Pacific.mike.g.hallock@gmail.com

Ashaman Gray"I have been dancing in the water since my first training with Alexander in 1999. The fluidity and dynamic grace inherent in aquatic bodywork immediately touched my center, and integrated my passions for body awareness, movement and relating. I studied many of the prominent aquatic modalities, and was certified to teach Healing Dance by Alexander in 2005. Since then I've taught in the mainland USA, Hawaii, India, Spain and Hungary, and love discovering new people, waters, and countries through this beautiful art. In addition to my experience in the water I have practiced and taught bodywork for almost 20 years, am fascinated with breathwork and martial arts, instruct sustainable movement and fitness practices, and have worked as a performing classical musician and a climbing arborist. I look forward to meeting you in the water!"integralbalance@yahoo.com

Nicola Kapala’s love for dance and the human spirit called her into the water. In Healing Dance she discovered a form that mirrored her inner movement and unlocked an untapped joy. As an Instructor of Watsu and Healing Dance her classes are framed by clear, compassionate communication with emphasis on form and the deeper qualities of listening with all the senses. Being passionate about teaching creatively, Nicola uses her experience in performance, martial arts, interpersonal communications and the healing arts to inform her classes and sessions. nicolakapala@gmail.com

Kathrin George is a Watsu, WaterDance and Healing Dance Practitioner. Besides Healing Dance she teaches the Introductory Weekend and Basic Seminar courses in the German system. For over 20 years she has worked as a physical therapist. In her own words, "Water was always my element, and the discovery of the water work was love at first sight. It combines my passion for water and movement, as well as the joy of meeting and caring for others. Beyond this the water work is an ideal complement to my physical therapy. Both receiving and giving are a blessing in my life, providing me with an island of tranquility in an often turbulent everyday life." kathringeorge@gmx.net

I, Erez Beatus, have been in the water since I remember myself. My earliest memories are of me, playing in the water – dancing, diving. I got into Aquatic bodywork at 1999 during my Hydrotherapy studies at the Wingate Institute in Israel, where I was exposed first to Watsu, and then to WaterDance. I worked as a Hydrotherapist for 2 years at Tel-Hashomer hospital, where I used WaterDance to work with people with special needs. The results were amazing. These 2 years taught me that there is no limit to our potential, and that Aquatic bodywork is definitely a part of me. I have been assisting Alexander in his WaterDance and HealingDance courses over the past 5 years. My passion in water continues with Freediving Breath-hold diving. I have been doing this sport/art professionally over the past 9 years. I held the world record for the deepest dive with no aids. erezbeatus@yahoo.com

Anat Juran says of herself, “Being in the water and connecting with people has been my passion and medicine since I remember myself, hence my life is forever entwined with water and people”. Anat’s long professional experience in aquatic education started with 15 years as a nationally leading competitive swimming coach in Israel, followed by another 20 years of managing her own aquatic center. She developed swimming programs for babies, toddlers, children, and for people with special needs. Her passion for working in the water with people led her to take interest in many forms of therapy including Swedish and Sports massage, Shiatsu, and Aromatherapy, as well as different hydrotherapy techniques including Halliwick. Anat is a Watsu Therapist and teacher, a WaterDance Practitioner, and a Healing Dance Practitioner and teacher. She is also trained in Hakomi – an experiential Body Centered psychotherapy. aquanat@bigpond.net.au

Bodhi Sambhava​(Sophie Anquetil) discovered Watsu® and Tantra over 20 years ago. After she had become a Watsu® and Healing Dance® Practitioner she specialized working on unconscious cellular memories. She is also a certified Skydancing Tantra® Teacher II and co-founder of Aqua-Tantra®, facilitating in Europe and Mexico. Through her immersion in Healing Dance she discovered more flow, movement and awareness in her sessions. Bodhi teaches the IHD, Healing Dance I and the Integration Day. She brings a rare passion and commitment to her work, being strongly guided by her intuition. “I feel deeply connected to Healing Dance. Integrating Alexander’s work became so natural for me. With sensual movement and the feeling of water on the skin, Healing Dance is for me the most tantric in the aquatic world!” lewatsu@gmail.com

In Jacqueline Lootsma's words: "In January 198 I had my first Watsu session during my holiday on Maui. It was very healing for me and right then and there I knew this was it for me: I wanted to learn this beautiful healing work. I went to Harbin (CA) to learn Watsu, Waterdance, Healing Dance and Jahara Technique. Now, seven years later, I am an Aquatic Bodyworker, Healing Dance Practitioner and Junior Teacher, and a certified Watsu Basic Instructor. This is very powerful and deep work, a very personal, loving way to be with others." dolphindreams369@hotmail.com

Sarah Reynolds arrives to the Healing Dance family a skilled Myofascial Therapist (1999), Watsu Practitioner (2003) and Massage Therapy Instructor (2001). Currently, she offers healing sessions on land and in water in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Throughout her life she has dreamed of the ocean and in particular ocean waves and tidal movements. For Sarah, Healing Dance is unique in its elegance and its power to open doorways for self acceptance and expanded consciousness. Her teaching style is both direct and creative. In her classes, water is the medium for students to learn this exquisite technique and explore the depths of human experience. The water takes us there. ​​sarah@oceanwaveshealing.com

Claire Muskopf learned to swim before she learned to walk. Water unified and permeated most of her life. Aquatic bodywork has beautifully reconnected dance and that love of the water for her since 2007. Claire deepened her knowledge through her trainings, in Healing Dance, WaterDance, Esalen Massage and Fluid Presence. Displaced from being a Healing Dance practitioner at Harbin Hot Springs, Claire is based in Hawaii where the ocean is a constant comforting and healing presence. Part mermaid, she has been known to say, “if I only had gills, I'd never get out of the water.” The fluidity of the body of work that is Healing Dance, the vocabulary it holds and the ease and care in which movement is offered to clients all provide great inspiration for her. Her playful spirit looks forward to sharing knowledge and exploration with you.aquatic.clairez@gmail.com